New early‑childhood impact coordinator outlines steering committee and needs assessment

Michelle Samson, the district's newly hired early‑childhood impact coordinator, told the school board Aug. 18 that the office will begin with a steering committee and a rigorous needs and asset assessment to guide upstream, prevention‑focused work for children birth through age five.

Samson said the steering committee includes local health systems, city and county representatives, Western Technical College, the Parenting Place, local child‑care referral agencies, and a DCF/DPI representative. "If we build a connected network of prevention and intervention supports for young children and families, then families and children will get the right help at the right time," she said, summarizing the program's theory of change.

Presenters cited research on early brain development (including the point that the majority of neural development occurs before age five) and proposed using Harvard's Ideas/Impact framework to structure planning, implementation and evaluation. Samson described planned community engagement beyond surveys — interviews, stakeholder mapping and deep outreach — to ensure programs respond to families' stated needs and to avoid top‑down assumptions.

Board members asked about prior local initiatives, whether the coordinator role is a continuation or expansion of past efforts, and how the work will be funded and measured. Administration said the position builds on earlier partnerships (for example, prior contracts with the Parenting Place) and emphasized the district will "see it all, not do it all" — leveraging community organizations rather than replacing them.

Samson said the steering committee will first develop the needs and asset assessment design and then use findings to identify root causes and test targeted strategies. The board agreed to revisit progress as the coordinator completes outreach and develops a detailed implementation plan and evaluation approach.